Sharing accountability
The programme involves Innovate CYPS taking full case management of a designated number of cases. For a team of five social workers supported by social work managers and a family support practitioner, typical case volumes are 90 per team. Although this can be scaled up or down depending on your specific requirements.
In many cases, an updated assessment of the child’s and family’s needs may not have been completed in several years. These cases therefore continue to be seen as meeting social care thresholds for intervention and therefore often remain open to CWD teams. That’s why, during week one of the programme, one of our managers audits each case to ensure there is management oversight with clear case direction. From there, our team works intensively with each child and family undertaking an updated assessment and producing a SMART care plan that enables a suitable pathway to be identified.
Outcomes-focused
Being outcomes-focused, we set very clear and measurable KPIs with you, which are routinely monitored. This ensures the child or young person remains the focus and at the centre of everything we do. This gives you the confidence that the plans we put in place and pathways we recommend meet each child’s current short, medium and long-term needs.
Embedding thresholds at the correct application, means as a local authority, you are also better able to understand any risks attached to individual cases.
Evidence-based cost savings
Where cases have not been assessed in a very long time, we have been able to close up to 30% of cases to social services and step down a further 20% into Early Help provisions. This has been achieved by completing updated assessments and identifying correct pathways, looking at the local authority’s local offer, linking into Early Help services and SEND provisions.
As well as reducing the number of cases open to social services, our team assesses whether direct payments are meeting the child and family’s needs. From this review, direct payments can be reduced by moving cases into more appropriate provisions; this is either within your local offer, in Early Help provisions, or within commissioned services provided by social care or SEND.
In reviewing each case, we also reassess the needs of children or young people who are being supported in high-cost placements. Placements that are often not meeting the child’s needs and not subject to tripartite funding. We can make cost savings by supporting tripartite funded placements, identifying suitable placements nearer to home, and/or bringing the child or young person back into the local authority services or at home with an intense support package linking into the Education Health Care Plan.
Cases coming up to or in transition are also assessed as part of the process. Cost savings are made by ensuring cases are managed within the correct pathway at the right time. Transport costs are also linked to reassessment, and again, significant cost savings are made by utilising transport more effectively.
Our methodology
Our CWD programme gives you the headspace and support; not just to review how the current needs of children with disabilities are met, but to introduce new pathways. To think more creatively about how the existing local authority offer can be better utilised.
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Discover a new way of working
Of course, we realise no two local authorities are the same, even though their statutory responsibilities are. That’s why we take a deep-dive diagnostic review of your existing service to discover what your pain points are. Taking a true start-to-finish approach, we co-produce a new way of working to make sure the changes we introduce at a service-level are sustainable.
Book a free one-day diagnostic visit from senior members of our team, who’ll review your existing local offer and recommend a way forward.